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- This notion of the "Bush recovery" obviously belies a political attitude that is contemptuous of empirical economics, but it also serves to remind us that the right wing is anxiously and eagerly awaiting the rehabilitation of George Bush's reputation -- precisely because their reputations are tied to his. The Bush administration almost single-handedly discredited neoconservative foreign policy and supply-side economics, so for conservatives unwilling to learn from failure, the only option is to wait until rehabilitation occurs so they can regain their credibility.
- Many of us wondered why the new "Heroes" section of the redesigned GOP.com Web site consisted primarily of 19th century figures, a significant number of which were obscure black Republicans. Obviously, the Republican Party from over a century ago bears about as much resemblance to the present configuration as the Democratic Party of 50 years ago bears to today's Dems. But this has not stopped conservative amateur historian Michael Zak, author of the "Heroes" Web page, from drawing upon an alternative reality in which free-market Republicans have been locked in an eternal battle with "slave system" Democrats for control of the country.
- Recent polls have shown that Sen. Arlen Specter is faring very poorly in hypothetical 2010 matchups against Pat Toomey, but without the inclusion of Specter's primary opponent, Joe Sestak, I haven't been terribly interested. But now Rasmussen has pit all three against one another, and the results confirm that Specter would barely edge Sestak in a primary, but that Specter would lose against Toomey. In a Toomey-Sestak matchup, Sestak prevails, but just barely. Now if we can get a pollster other than Rasmussen to put up some numbers like this, we'll have a better picture of where this high-profile Senate race is heading.
- Remainders: Rush Limbaugh, timeless martyr for the ages; Glenn Beck has big, vague plans for 2010; and Mitt Romney must be the only politician in America who can credibly claim to have expanded public health insurance while in office who lacks any credibility on the issue of public health insurance out of office.
--Mori Dinauer
